The Mission
by Sukyomi
Summary: Following a mission gone wrong which left many of Suna's shinobi injured, many lose their lives to the inexperience of Suna's medical-nin. This prompts Suna to make a change, asking from help from Konoha to send a medical-nin to mentor the ones in Suna. Ino Yamanaka is picked for this task, which gets magnitudes more difficult when she meets a certain redheaded Kazekage.
1. Prologue-The Attack

**AN: I'm sorry if you notice any mistakes or such, I'm just getting back into the swing of writing again! Also, don't get off put by the random people I put into this chapter. I'm not one to dabble in OCs and I just needed some filler characters for this. Finally, Thank you to anyone who takes the time to read this story!**

Prologue - The Attack  


Around nine at night winds all around Sunagakure started to pick up speed, cutting through anything in its path. Sand was swept into the air and anyone who made contact with just a slight breeze was left chilled. Like every other night this wind was accompanied by the fall of nighttime and, weirdly enough, many people had been waiting for this moment all day. Most noticeably this group of people included Suna's own hospital's staff, who were more than happy for their shifts to be over. For now, this night seemed to be no different from any other.

"Asami!" A mid-aged women called from behind the front desk, her soft brown eyes scanning the papers lain out in front of her. "Did you manage to see who left these papers here? There doesn't seem to be a name..." The girl's sentence trailed off as her eyes scanned the document before her. As she read down the paper she sighed and brought her hands to her face.

"No, why?" A younger women asked, coming out from the staff-room behind the front desk. She propped her arms up on said desk and rested her face in her hands, giving the older women a quizzical look and a raised brow. Finally when older women didn't answer, she spoke up again. "What's it say, Nori-san?"

The older women, Nori, shook her head in response. Before meeting Asami's eyes.

"It's another one." Those were the only words it took for the younger girl avert her gaze, and rid herself of her happy attitude. She sighed once for herself and also shook her head. The older women took this time to continue her thought, "I don't understand why no one else seems to care, Asami. I know that we do, but I'm starting to think that to everyone else this job only represents a paycheck. I mean, by now the death's are racking up and no one even bothers to notice."

Asami knew that she was right. In the past week alone many people -citizens and ninja alike- came into the hospitals with simple injuries. They never even knew that that would be the last place they saw. She understood where Nori was coming from and felt upset about it herself, but again Nori was right. No one else cared. That left them with nothing they could do but stand back and watch it all happen.

"I'm sorry, Nori-san.." She raised her eyes to Nori once again, the look in Nori's eyes alone telling her she believed her.

The talking stopped there, both of the girls trapped in a silence they weren't quite sure how to break. Moments later though, sounds of yelling and footsteps broke the silence for them. At the first notice of this noise, Asami's pose stiffened and her eyes -raised towards the door. Almost as if on queue, the door burst open to reveal a frantic yet serious Sabaku-No-Temari, the sister of Suna's Kazekage. In both her arms and many Shinobi's arms behind her laid countless wounded Suna ninja seemingly on the brink of death. The group rushed through into the hospital and once they realized what was happening, a mode clicked in both Asami and Nori. Asami instantly rushed to help Temari with the wounded, and Nori was almost immediately corralling uninjured shinobi to help her get contact with the medical-nin who went home. Everyone knew they would need the help, and by the look of things many of the wounded ninja would not make it till morning without proper treatment.

"We need to get these people to rooms!" Asami yelled, trying her best to be heard over the havoc of groaning, yelling, and sounds of feet rushing against the ground. She grabbed an injured kunoichi from Temari's arms and rushed her to a room, only being able to lay her on the bed before rushing back to the front.

Everyone was in a panic, and while Asami was trying to get everyone organised, she wasn't exactly trained to know what to do in this situation. Even so, she tried her best to gather together everyone and get them to bring the injured into rooms. Many shinobi who had rushed in were asking her questions she didn't know the answers to, which was only making everything worse. The only thing she knew to do for sure was get everyone into rooms and treat the shinobi in worst condition as soon as possible. So that's what she tried to do.

"Everyone that thinks they can wait to be treated has to wait out here!" She yelled, getting most's attention, but not everyone. Others were talking to each other and not listening, and she didn't have the time for that. Temari sensed this and took initiative, yelling over everyone there and grabbing their attention. Asami nodded in her direction in a silent thanks, and continued with what she was saying.

"Everyone who can wait has to wait out here! The others need to quickly be moved to rooms and be treated as soon as possible! We don't have many medical-nin here, so anyone that can help at all would be appreciated highly!" She yelled, and directed the ninja holding the people injured the worst to rooms. Halfway through the process of trying to sort them to rooms, Temari grabbed her attention.

"Asami! This one's really hurt! She won't live much longer if we don't do anything!" Temari yelled to Asami and left her torn, she was only one girl after all and couldn't do everything. For now though, she had to keep getting everyone in the best order that she could. Temari didn't give up though, and kept yelling to her. Finally, angry that she was being ignored, Temari grabbed Asami by the arm and pulled her away from directing people. A certain intimidation was radiating off of her. "We need to do something, otherwise everyone is going to die!" She raised her voice to her. "What is sorting people going to do other then delay the time we have to help the people who actually need it, and now!" Asami understood what Temari meant, she may not know quite what to do but she had to try. She directed Temari to the operation room and grabbed any offhand medical-nin for extra help on the way.

The few medical-nin Asami found, Temari and Asami entered the hospitals single operation room with not much of a clue what they were dealing with. Nor did they have any idea of what to do about it when they did find out. The people that were on shift that night had no experience with healing such big wounds.

Temari laid the injured kunoichi down onto the table and she was promptly examined. From what they could see the girl had suffered a large clean gash to the abdomen and was bleeding a lot. Unfortunatly for her, the girl was still conscious and they didn't have the time to put her under anesthesia. Asami's rational side quickly realized that no one there knew quite what they were doing. She knew that it would be best to wait for people who did know what to do to arrive. But her heart was telling her that if the girl laying there kept bleeding out like she was, she'd never survive long enough for the other medical-nin to arrive. She had to make a decision as quick as possible. In a panic, she grabbed a cloth from the operation table and handed it to Temari.

"Hold this to the wound, apply as much pressure as you can. We need to slow the bleeding." Temari took the cloth from her and did as she said, trying to ignore the blood now coating her arms. When Temari applied pressure to the wound, the kunoichi screamed in pain. The girl reached out and latched onto Asami's hand. When she looked down, Asami noticed a steady flow of tears coming from her eyes. The kunoichi whispered something out to Asami, but she didn't catch it in her panic.

"Huh?" Asami asked, lowering herself to the girl, who took a second to regain her breath. Through sobs and groans of pain, she repeated herself.

"Please don't let me die." She cried, and Asami's eyes widened. She didn't want that to happen, and she was determined to make sure that it wouldn't. Even in as bad of a condition the girl was in, she was convinced.

"I wont, I promise." She tried to stay calm and confident as she talked to the girl, even though she was doubting herself.

While this was happening, Temari was left struggling. It seemed that no matter how hard she tried, the bleeding wouldn't slow. The panic only really started though when the girls blood soaked through the thick cloth and reached Temari's hands. Everyone was trying their best but nothing was helping. Temari was distraught. Only when she was about to give up was when she heard a loud slam from the door behind her.

"What do you think you idiots are doing?!" The hospital's head medical-nin shoved Temari out of the way and took a place in front of the dying girl. In an anger from being called in, she started to interrogate Asami of what happened. Temari took this as a queue to leave and ran out the operating room door, her ears meeting the sounds of screams and groans of the injured once again. She couldn't stand it anymore, she knew she had to keep composed but she just couldn't anymore. She didn't understand how the medical-nin's did it, but it was all too much for her. She didn't know what to do, but she no longer wanted to be in the hospital with all the looming death. She ran outside and to the only place she thought to go, the Kazekage tower. She needed to tell Gaara what happened. And even though it was late, she knew that he'd be there.

As soon as Temari arrived at the tower the workers and guards alike bombarded her with questions. She knew that many of them were only worrying about her well being but she had more important things to be doing than answering questions. She needed to get to Gaara. The usual two men stood guard outside of Gaara's office, both of which Temari knew well, but Temari wasn't about to stop for pleasantries. When she approached the guards they had tried to stop her to say that there was an important mission report going on, but in that moment Temari didn't care. By that point, her heart had taken over her rational side and while she knew that barging into a meeting wasn't going to help anyone, at that point her heart only had the one goal. She pushed past him just like the others and finally entered the room, not caring nor bothering to pay notice to whoever else was there.

"They ambushed us when-," Inside, just as the guards had warned, stood a nervous looking man giving a report. Temari was about to interrupt but luckily for her she didn't need to, all the commotion she had caused caused him to lose his track of thought. Unlike the nervous Shinobi though, the Kazekage was all but used to the commotion. He sent a glare Temari's way, though he made sure to note her weird behavior in the back of his mind. He was about to tell her to leave, but stopped as soon as he saw the blood coating her clothes and arms. The glare was replaced with a look of concern.

"Temari, what happ-,"

"We have a problem, Gaara! That's what happened!" Temari yelled, approaching said man's desk angrily. "There are innocent shinobi dying right now because none of our medical-nin have a single damn clue what they're doing!" She barked at him, not caring if he got angry with her or not because he needed to hear her now. "Something needs to change! Now!" The command came out softer than she intended it to, her voice cracking slightly at the end. Nonetheless, Temari looked him straight in the eyes. Something she barely ever did, but was necessary. She was so caught up in the moment that even the steady stream of tears falling from her face went unnoticed by her.

"You're a mess." He spoke slowly, his eyes narrowing. He stood up to meet her eyes and placed his hands dominantly on his desk. From that alone Temari could tell that he was not happy with her. "Go clean yourself up Temari. We'll talk later." The way he said her name alone was laced with venom. He took a split second to glance back towards the Shinobi, who was now cowering away, and back to the angry woman. "You're creating a scene." His glare returned, and a dark aura emanated from him.

His words stung. But the intimidation worked and instead of arguing she did what he told her to and left his office to clean herself up. But she did promise one thing to herself.

She would not let it go.

 **AN: Sorry if some parts were rocky, but I'm trying my best. I do hope you enjoyed reading, and I'm trying my best to get the next few chapters done and uploaded as soon as I can :), so look forward to them soon! Have a great day!**


	2. Chapter 1-The Mission

**AN: Yayyyy! I'm actually updating a story for once! I went back and found and fixed a bunch of mistakes in the prologue too. I hope everyone had an amazing New Years! Enjoy!**

Chapter 1-The Mission

Naruto,

I apologize for the short notice of this request, but a problem has arisen in Suna. Two days ago, a group of Suna shinobi were ambushed while returning from a mission. Many died on the battlefield, but the ones who survived were taken to Suna Hospital. There too, many people were lost due to the inexperience of Suna's medical-nin. Suna officials worry that if nothing is done about this, then we will keep losing innocent people to preventable causes. In light of this, I propose that we organize an exchange per se, of techniques between both Suna and Konoha. On your end, we request that Konoha send one of their medical-nin to mentor those in Suna. Unfortunately, because of the short notice I have not had the chance to talk with my advisers to discuss what we could offer in return. If you accept this proposition, we can further discuss both the details of the mission and what Suna is able to give at a later date.

Gaara

Even after going over the scroll he held in front of him multiple times, Naruto was still unsure how to go about the situation at hand. It didn't help how he was so tired he couldn't think straight. Trying to keep up with everything that came with being Hokage was starting to wear him out, and he hadn't slept in days. Finally though, after moments of contemplation and trying to get his thoughts straight, the blonde Hokage spoke.

"Honestly, Temari..." He raised his eyes to the women in front of him and cerulean met teal. Naruto could see the emotion swirling in her eyes, making him feel worse about what he was about to say. "...I'm not sure if Konoha will be able to help." In light of his words, Temari was left practically speechless. She sat further up in her chair and made motions with her hands though like she was coming up with something to say.

"You can't just send someone? What about Sakura?" She pleaded, desperation pulling at her voice. Temari was at a loss of ideas herself but she wasn't ready to give up the chance of help for her people, especially when Gaara had given her the opportunity to do so. Though, much to Temari's dismay, the atmosphere in the room was quickly turning tense and uncomfortable for both parties. After coming up with the proper words Naruto set the scroll onto his desk among a mess of other papers and rubbed his face.

"Look," Naruto spoke softly now, leaning himself forward in his chair and resting his elbows on his desk. "I understand that Suna is having some issues, and like I said Temari I do want to help. The problem with that is that Konoha is having it's own issues too, and while I want to help Suna I need to think of my own village first." He explained slowly, honestly beside himself at the fact he was useless in this situation. After a few seconds or so, Temari stood from her chair, knowing that even though she wanted to keep asking for help there was no point.

"I understand." She sighed to herself. Though she didn't expect much, she at least walked into Naruto's office that night hoping he would be able to do something to help. Her feet turned to lead her out of the office, but stopped when Naruto spoke again.

"I will try to think of something, Temari. But for now I can't promise anything... I'm sorry." Though Temari was listening to what he said, she didn't respond.

Temari left the office in a bad mood, upset with both her village and the fact she too was useless concerning the problem at hand. She wasn't supposed to be like this, she wasn't supposed to be useless. She was supposed to always be headstrong and in control, which was really what upset her more than anything.

A voice in the back of her mind kept telling her that everything would figure itself out, but all she could do was hope.

* * *

The Konohagakure Hospital contrasted greatly with the one back in Suna. However they both did share one similarity, in that they were both currently severely understaffed. Though Konoha may have had skill on their side, they were still struggling. Many staff were stressed and forced to take overtime to be able to cover all the shifts, which made everyone feel even worse.

One of the operation rooms in the hospital held a particularly great example of this. Inside of it, two leading medical-nin were busy focusing on healing a man with a collapsed lung. Unfortunately for him, the two medical-nin weren't getting along very well.

"Move out of the way, Ino-pig! You're doing that all wrong!" One of the girls, a rosette, yelled at a blonde on the other side of the operating table. "Why don't you let someone competent do it for once?" Her insult sent the blonde, Ino, fuming. Her focus on healing the man before her was interrupted and she raised her hands from him to form fists by her sides. She had absolutely no right to say that to her!

"Excuse me?! You're one to talk, billboard-brow, seeing as you never do anything right!" This time like Ino had before, the pink-haired girl became enraged. The mere sight of her rage prompted a satisfied grin to spread along Ino's face.

Between them, there was always a competition. It was always a game of 'who's better', each girl head-strong and determined to win. Though, like in most conflicts, there was also always a moment where one person took the 'competition' just a little too far.

"Say's the one who's too fat and ugly for anyone to ever love her!" The pinky knew that she was aiming directly to strike a nerve, but she didn't care much. Ino was practically asking for it, wasn't she?

The look that spread on Ino's face made the other girl immediately regret ever saying what she did, though she was also too strong-minded to ever take it back. Pure rage spread across the blondes face, her power blue eyes narrowing to just slits. When no one broke the tension between them, Ino stormed out of the room. She ran out of the hospital angrily, not believing the other girl had actually said that to her.

Thinking about what she said made Ino so upset she wasn't even focusing on where she was walking as she stomped out of the hospital. Because of that she was suddenly pulled out of her thoughts when she bumped straight into someone.

"Hey! Why don't you watch where you're-," She stopped her sentence as soon as she noticed who it was, Kiba Inuzuka. She instantly felt bad for yelling. Kiba was her friend, and he had done nothing wrong to her. As a matter of fact, he was one of the most supportive people in her life at the moment. At her yell his eyes widened, not expecting it from her of all people. He grabbed her shoulders and held her in front of him in disbelief.

"Jeez, Ino! Calm down! What's so wrong with you all of a sudden?" His voice was harsh, but he knew Ino wouldn't have freaked out at him for no reason. When he looked in her eyes they looked not only regretful, but saddened. Kiba sighed, already knowing what this was going to be about. "What did she do this time, Ino?"

Kiba was more than familiar with the evergrowing Sakura-Ino drama and from the sad look in Ino's eyes and the fact she was storming from the hospital, he could tell it was just that. Ino didn't choose to elaborate on what happened and only responded with a shake of her head.

"It's nothing, Kiba." She replied finally. She tried to hide her emotions with a smile but she knew that Kiba would see straight through it. He let her shoulders go and crossed his arms at her, raising a brow. "Ino, It's obviously something." He stated, watching her as her fake smile disappeared in lieu of a frown. When she looked down to avoid his eyes, he grabbed her shoulders again, bending at his knees a little in order to level with her eyes.

"Look, Ino, you don't need to tell me about it. But I can tell that there's something bothering you and if you ever want to talk, I'm here." He reassured, flashing her a toothy smile when she remet his eyes.

"Thank you Kiba." She said finally, his smile contagious and spreading to her face. Kiba had always been a good friend for her when she needed it, and she had always appreciated that about him. Though she felt better about the Sakura situation, a question still nagged at her head. "Why are you here, anyways? I never see you around the hospital grounds." With the question Kiba released Ino's shoulders, straightening his stance. Before responding, he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, though his wide grin was still present on his face.

"Actually, Naruto sent me here to get you. I was there to report about my mission and he just so happened to ask me to come and get you. He said something about needing to talk to you right away." Ino was surprised by that, she wasn't expecting Naruto to talk to her anytime soon. As a matter of fact, the last time they'd talked Naruto had put Ino on temporary hold for missions and the like. According to him, Ino needed to clear her mind or something, because she was letting her problems interfere with her performance.

"Oh, well, thank you for letting me know Kiba. And for the offer, I'll keep it in mind if I ever need to talk, okay?" Ino smiled sweetly, ending the conversation the best she could. If the Hokage needed her about something it must be important, and with Naruto so busy lately too, she didn't want to keep him waiting.

"Okay Ino, Good luck with Naruto then. Seeya later!" He started to walk away, but still waved back at her. Ino waved too, even though his back was turned and she knew that he wouldn't end up seeing it.

"Bye Kiba!" She called back to him, but it went unnoticed.

* * *

When Ino entered Naruto's office, the last thing she was expecting was to see Temari. For a split second, it even crossed her mind that maybe she had walked in at the wrong time and that Temari was there for a total different reason to her. Even so, she was happy to see her. Ever since Temari and Shikamaru started dating, Ino had grown quite close to Temari. Though because of her living in Suna and all and having a large place in the Suna government, Ino never got to see her. Naturally, this warranted Ino to be happy.

"Temari! I haven't seen you in so long! How have things been in Suna?" Ino asked, smiling happily at the blonde girl in front of her. Before Temari could answer though, Naruto spoke up.

"Ino, that's actually the reason you're here. Come, sit." He gestured to the chair next to Temari. Ino could tell that the situation was serious just by how Naruto was acting. He was never this dull, his expression never this solemn. Something must really be wrong.

Ino sat next to Temari apprehensively, the whole situation seemed very off to her and it was making her less than comfortable. "What's going on?" She asked finally, Naruto stood from his seat and grabbed a scroll on his desk, before turning back to Ino.

"Actually, Ino, I have a mission for you." Naruto announced, and from the corner of Ino's eyes she saw Temari's face perk up. "Yesterday I got a request from the Kazekage. He asked that Konoha provide Suna with a medical-nin to help instruct and mentor those at the Suna Hospital. He wanted them to be provided urgently in light of a major recent loss." Naruto walked from behind his desk to the side of it, throwing the scroll he held into one of the many piles he had scattered on his desk.

"Naruto," Ino started, sliding forward slightly in her chair and crossing her arms in front of her. "I understand that Suna is having some problems, but so are we, y'know. The people at the hospital are already all working overtime... Are you sure that it's really a good idea that I go?" Ino had no problems with helping Suna, nor going back into doing missions, but she did have a duty in trying to look out for her coworkers. She realized how hard they were all working and the last thing Ino wanted to be was a burden to them.

"Well Ino, I've been giving that part some thought for a while now. I assume you know how I talked with Kiba earlier, and he told me of how you've been recently." Ino's eyes narrowed, not happy that Kiba had been relaying her problems to the Hokage of all people. "Ino, I'm worried about you." Naruto admitted, his previously stern blue eye's softening. "I know how stressed you've been, and honestly, as soon as I got this request I wanted to send you. I feel like it would not only benefit Suna, but you too. I think that maybe the break could help you." At this point, Temari's mood had skyrocketed from what it was earlier. She was familiar how good of a medical-nin Ino was, and was glad that Naruto wanted to send her.

"I've talked with Gaara, and if you accept to go on the mission you and Temari will leave for Suna early tomorrow morning. You will be alone until you reach the Konohagakure and the Sunagakure border, where Kankuro will meet you and accompany you two the rest of the way. You will stay there for around a month, give or take a few days, and you will be provided a place to stay while you're there." Naruto stated, scanning both Ino and Temari's faces for a reaction. For Temari, her eyes lit up and she she was more intrested in the discussion than ever before. Both Temari and Naruto awaited Ino's response, who was now facing an inner turmoil. She was torn.

Should she stay in Konoha to help her village, or should she go to Suna and help them in their time of need?

Ino weighted her options carefully. She really didn't want to burden the medical-nin in Konoha by leaving, but at the same time she knew that they could handle themselves. They may have to put in extra work and effort to keep up, but she knew that they could do it. However, the Suna medical-nin she wasn't so sure about. Ino had never really visited Suna much before, so she wasn't very familiar with how dated or modern their medical techniques were. Though by what she was told, they were struggling. People were dying because the people who were supposed to help weren't helping as they should. Naruto also had a point with what he had said earlier. Ino was stressed lately, and she would admit that her quality of work was suffering from it. Finally in a spur of the moment decision and with no further thought, Ino had her answer.

"I'll do it." She announced, never considering what a real effect that decision would have on her life.

 **AN: I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter! I'll try my best to update soon again, but no promises, my winter break ends tomorrow. I'm really liking getting back into writing though so more likely than not chapter two will be out soon. Thanks everyone for reading & have a great day!**


	3. Chapter 2-The Goodbye & The Introduction

**AN: Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! I love really love getting feedback from everyone. I'm sorry that I didn't get this chapter uploaded yesterday like I was planning, I was really busy with school and didn't have the time to finish off the chapter. But, it's here now, so I hope you all enjoy it!**

Chapter 2-The Goodbye & The Introduction

This morning, like many before, Konoha was bathed in the soft pink light that resulted from the impending rise of the sun. The morning air crisp with a slight chill, the whole village was a beautiful sight to behold, though not many were awake to see it. There were very few people roaming the streets at this time, one of them, namely Temari, looked less then excited that she was awake so early.

She stood with her arms crossed at the front gates of Konohagakure, and had been for about half an hour at this point. She woke up early that morning to get ready to return to Suna with Ino, but said girl was no where in sight. Even though Temari had clearly given her a time to show up the day before. With her stood Shikamaru, Kiba, and Naruto.

"Where is she!" Temari growled to herself, definitely not a morning person. She turned to the others, a frown on her face and her forehead scrunched up in annoyance. "Is she always like this?" Shikamaru rolled his eyes at the question, whereas Kiba offered a small reminiscent smile and shook his head softly.

"Yea," He yawned, not used to being up this early, though he had nothing against it. He only woke up that morning to see Ino off, and he was already planning to go straight home afterwards and pass out. "You'd think she'd be on time with all that bossy attitude she's always got, but I'm pretty sure she's never arrived even once when she's was supposed to." He admitted, though Kiba was one to talk. He was never on time for anything either. Kiba stood up from the ground and sighed to himself. "I'll go get her okay?" He offered, though it wasn't really much of an offer, as he had already set of on his way before anyone else would've had a chance to protest.

* * *

Contrary to what Kiba had said earlier, Ino was awake. Well if you count groggy and still splayed out on her bed as being awake, that is. She had been laying in her bed half-awake for a while now but still hadn't willed herself to get up. That was, until her door burst open.

"Waaaaake up sunshine!" Just the voice made Ino cringe. She was definitely not ready to deal with Kiba this early in the morning. Even worse she could hear him moving towards her bed, or so she thought. Little did Ino know, he was actually on his way towards Ino's bedroom curtains, aware that light was Ino's early-morning weakness. Once she finally realized where Kiba was headed though, it was already too late. She tried to cover her eyes with her blanket but it didn't help any. "C'mon Ino you gotta get up for your mission, Temari's been-,"

"..my mission..?" Ino spoke groggily and confused at first, but as soon as it clicked in her mind what mission Kiba was referring to she about freaked out. "My mission!" She yelled, jumping out of her bed and chucking her blanket at her best friend. She ran to her bathroom to check the state of herself, only requiring a quick glance for her to decide that she looked horrible. In spite of her appearance, she only gave her hair and teeth a quick brush before rushing back to her room to get dressed. On her way back through to her room she noticed Kiba waiting for her near the front door. She didn't know what she'd do without the boy, he always had her back in some way or another. She'd never tell him that though, his ego was already through the roof as is.

Once in her room she picked out a pair of covering clothing, something she wasn't quite used to. She remembered when Shikamaru went to Suna before though he wore more protective clothing to keep his skin from burning, so she followed his example. She chose to wear a black long sleeve shirt with the same color vest, pants, and opened-toed shinobi sandals. To spice up her outfit just a little, as it didn't make her feel very much like herself, Ino wrapped some bandages around her lower calves and tucked the pants she wore into the wrapping. She topped her outfit off by securing her hair into her signature high ponytail and tying her forehead protector around her head, something she rarely did but found oddly appropriate now. She took one last glance at herself before running out of her bedroom and towards Kiba, grabbing a bag she pre-packed the night before and slinging it over her shoulder on her way out the door. With that, Kiba and her were off.

When they neared the gates though, Kiba grabbed onto Ino's arm and stopped her from moving. Ino wasn't sure why he did this, and so she was taken aback when he pulled her into a tight hug. She hugged him back though, resting her face on his chest.

"You never told me you were leaving ya know, Ino." He stated softly, an almost untraceable amount of sadness lining his voice. They stayed like that for a little bit in silence before he spoke up again. "What am I supposed to do without you here?" Ino had never thought about that before, Kiba was right, she didn't tell him she was leaving. Even worse, now she was running late to leave and they didn't have much time for goodbyes. Sure she wasn't leaving for long but they were really close friends and they were both definitely going to miss having each other around. Kiba let her go and turned towards the direction of the gates, flashing Ino his signature smirk. "Let's get ya to Temari before she goes off the handle then, okay?" Kiba said, taking off towards the gate quickly before she had time to react. She smiled at that, Kiba always had some way to lighten the mood.

"I never agreed to a race Kiba!" Ino yelled, sprinting after him anyways. As she had expected Kiba beat her by a lot. She jumped from the last building in her path and smiled uncomfortably as she felt a lot of eyes on her.

"Sleep through your alarm again, Ino?" Shikamaru teased, his arms crossed in front of him and a single eye brow raised. Temari laughed at this, and Ino rolled her eyes.

"No, Shika. I can't sleep through an alarm if I never set one in the first place." She retorted, placing her hands on her hips. Kiba snorted at what she said, mouthing a silent 'loser' to her as a taunt. Before Ino got the chance to yell at him though Naruto spoke up.

"Well, I guess now that Ino's finally here it's time for you guys to be on your way, right? If you leave now, you shouldn't even be that much late." Naruto stated, looking up from a watch he kept attached tightly to his wrist. As quick as it had started, Ino's fight with Kiba came to an end. Temari gave Shikamaru a quick hug before nodding her head in agreeance with Naruto and picking her bag up from the ground.

"Well, seeya Ino. Good luck in Suna." Kiba smiled, though he was disappointed he didn't get to have a chance for a longer goodbye. Ino nodded her head to him and offered a wide smile. She said her final goodbyes to both Shikamaru and Naruto as well, before walking over to Temari. To make the morning even more beautiful, as they left the village they were seen off by not only waving hands, but also the rising of the morning sun.

* * *

To say the least, Temari and Ino's journey to Suna was not a very fun one. When they were in leaf territory everything was ok, but as soon as they reached Sunagakure things changed for the worse. Well, for Ino they did at least. Temari seemed pretty indifferent no matter where they were, but for Ino traveling in the heat was challenging. For one, Ino wasn't used to the prospect of saving her water. Normally, she could drink all she wanted without any consequences. Though in the desert you needed to save all you could to be able to sustain yourself and stay hydrated the whole trip. And for two, Ino learned one big thing from traveling in Suna -other than that it got extremely hot- she hated sand. Not only did it reflect the sun like a mirror but it was hard to walk in, got absolutely everywhere, and was just utterly boring. At least in Konoha there were trees and flowers or something, but in Suna there was literally nothing but sand, for miles. It was pretty much Ino's personal hell.

Up to when they met up with Kankuro, Ino and Temari traveled in relative silence, which did not help Ino deal with the heat at all. She didn't hold the silence against Temari though, as it was early in the morning and she could definitely tell mornings were not Temari's thing. Though at least with Kankuro he talked and even joked around occasionally, keeping her mind at least somewhat distracted from the sweltering heat.

Now, starting off their third day traveling, Ino was over it. She did not want to travel anywhere ever again, her impatience getting the best of her. She dreaded having to go back to Konoha in a month. Today, Temari could sense Ino's frustration with the trip more then anything, though Ino hadn't ever said anything explicitly about it.

"We only have to travel for another few hours from here now, you know." Temari let Ino know in an attempt to cheer her up. Ino perked up like Temari hoped she would, now way more ready to power on with the journey then ever. She packed her things up from the night with a new-found enthusiasm, which Temari would admit made her smile just a little.

Sure enough, a few short hours later the large village walls surrounding Suna came into view. Ino, very relieved to be done with trudging through the hot desert sand practically ran into the village ahead of her.

Once they got inside of Suna itself, Ino stood marveling at the desert architecture. Their buildings looked so much different then the ones back in Konoha, and while Ino preferred the cozy style of her village over Suna's, that didn't mean that Suna's wasn't impressive. At first Temari watched Ino, a puzzled expression on her face, Though she tried to keep in mind that Ino hadn't been in Suna much and dismissed the curiosity.

"Kankuro, could you show Ino where the Kazekage tower is for me, please? And could you give this to Gaara for me? I have something really important to get to." Temari asked, holding out a small scroll to Kankuro and looking at something in the distance. Neither Ino nor Kankuro could catch what exactly it was she was looking at.

"Yea, sure Temari." Kankuro answered, still trying to locate what it was Temari was looking at. Once Kankuro had her things, Temari hopped onto a near building and ran towards a random corner of the village, a determined look on her face. Her sudden departure worried Kankuro a little bit, but he decided to brush it off. He looked at Ino curiously for a minute, then rested his arm on her shoulder. In that moment, Kankuro reminded Ino of Kiba. He would always rest his arms on her shoulders, declaring that she was the perfect height for an armrest.

"Come on, blondie." Kankuro started walking forward, directing Ino to the Kazekage's office by only nudges of the shoulder. "Gaara's office is this way." As they walked through the village, a feeling of deja vu hit Ino. For some reason up until now, whenever anyone spoke of the name Gaara it gave Ino inexplicable chills. She knew that he was the Kazekage, but there was somewhere else that she knew him from. Then it clicked. The Chuunin exams.

Gaara was the psychotic redhead who had fought against Rock Lee in the preliminary rounds. Gaara was the one who kept pummeling Lee even after crushing his arm and leg. Gaara was the one who went back to try to kill Lee in the hospital after someone intervened on their fight. Now that Ino had made that realization, she was a lot more apprehensive about going to meet him. She hadn't had enough time to think about why the name was familiar before now, but now that she did a feeling of dread started building in her. She cursed herself, she should have thought about this kind of stuff before she accepted this stupid mission!

Much to Ino's displeasure, Kankuro and her were standing in the same room as the Kazekage himself only moments later. Normally, Ino wasn't intimidated by anyone. But he was different then anyone else that tried to scare her, for one, he wasn't trying to intimidate her at all and for two, unlike most others, Ino actually feared him.

Suddenly and to Ino's discomfort she felt like she was being watched. Slowly, she raised her gaze from Kankuro to the man he was talking to. Sure enough, the Kazekage's black rimmed eyes were trained on her. When Ino averted her gaze, Gaara scoffed. Of all things, that just made her angry. How dare he?! She didn't care who he was, psycho Kazekage or not, she would not let him disrespect her like that. She fought her fear in order to snap her eyes back at the redhead. Ino didn't let the fact his eyes had strayed from her stop her.

While on the outside she didn't falter, she panicked internally when he looked back at her. He noticed her glare immediately, returning the look tenfold. Noticing the aura quickly changing in the room, Kankuro started to panic alongside Ino. he grabbed Ino's shoulder nonchalantly and squeezed it as hard as he could without hurting her, trying to get her to stop antagonizing. When that didn't end up working, he went with his plan b and rushed to end the conversation he had with the Gaara. He excused that he was feeling tired from the journey over and would show Ino to her room when he left. However, Kankuro didn't account for the fact that Gaara might offer to accompany Ino to her room instead.

"Wha-what?" Kankuro stuttered on accident, covering it with a nervous laugh. He would not let Ino be emotionally traumatized on her first day here. "Gaara, that's not really necessary, you have so much work here anyways. Just let me do it." Kankuro insisted, but Gaara would not budge.

Meanwhile Ino's glare had faded into a badly disguised look of panic as well. She didn't want to be left alone with the Kazekage, especially since she had just angered him.

"I thought you said you were tired." The Kazekage stated, his raspy voice less intimidating than she remembered it in her past.

"Yes, but-,"

"Then go home and rest." Gaara ordered. Kankuro pulled at his collar nervously, not wanting to leave Ino alone with him when he was angry, especially when she was the cause of it. Though by now, Kankuro had run out of excuses and did as Gaara said to avoid his wrath, shooting Ino a final look of sympathy before exiting the Kazekage's office.

Now, left alone with the Kazekage, Ino tried to muster up as much courage as she could, finally bringing herself to look into his eyes. In that moment, it almost seemed as if the world around her slowed. She wasn't quite sure why, but took this moment of random bravery to finally get a good look at the Kazekage. His pale green eyes and were rimmed from lack of sleep just as they were years ago, and his messy red hair was all over the place. Talk about insomnia... Though there was almost something oddly charming about it Ino would admit.

Wait, what was she thinking!? She couldn't believe that she had even thought such a thing, especially about the Kazekage of all people! Just two seconds ago she had looked at him out of only fear and now she was acting like she had a crush on the man, which she did not, by the way. She couldn't.

Ino was broken out of her trance-like state when he moved towards the door. 'Damn it!' She thought to herself, 'I didn't catch what he said!' She cursed herself for getting distracted, hoping he would give her a hint to what he had said before.

"Your room is this way, Yamanaka." 'Thank god...'

He led her down a bunch of hallways before coming to a large wooden door and handing her a key. She examined it thoughtfully for a second before walking to the door they were in front of, and unlocking it.

Inside was what looked to be one small room with a kitchen, couch, and bed all combined into one room. There seemed to be a door leading to a bathroom on the far wall as well.

"You will stay here for the duration of your mission, so I hope it is to your standards." He spoke very formally, and although it irritated Ino, at least it didn't quite scare her as much as his silent glares did. "You can find me in my office if you need anything."

At this point again, Ino wasn't focused on his words anymore. But rather him himself. She noted that he had grown a lot taller since the Chuunin exams, and looking at his body-,

'Ino! Get yourself straightened out! All he is is some creepy stranger and you're acting like he's Sasuke and you're back in the academy!' She mentally reprimanded herself, hiding her inner turmoil by smiling at said man who was currently standing silently in the hall outside of her door. In a sudden burst of annoyance at herself, she slammed the the door shut. Even though Ino knew her rude behavior was primarily uncalled for, it had to be done.

Gaara was trouble.

 **AN: My school was cancelled tomorrow, so I have a lot more time to work on chapters this weekend. I'd say expect 1-2, but then again I can't promise anything. Off that topic though, I really hope everyone enjoyed reading!**


	4. Chapter 3-The Hospital

Chapter 3 - The Hospital

Shockingly, this morning Ino woke up right on time. Though unluckily for her it wasn't because of an alarm she'd set the night before -naturally she'd slept though all five of those- but rather this morning Ino awoke to the sound of wind scraping against and past the wall above her head. It didn't really need to be said that the sound wasn't very pleasant, especially since it awoke the blonde.

While she _was_ awake, that definitely did _not_ mean that Ino wanted any part in getting out of bed. She could feel that the air above her blanket was chilly, and the last thing she wanted was to leave the cozy confines she'd created for herself. Though, knowing that today would be the day she first met Suna's hospital staff, Ino knew she had to get up. Biting the bullet, she threw her covers off and swung her feet off of the bed. Once they made contact with the freezing wooden floor though, Ino's want to get up completely vanished. _Oh what she would do to be back in warm Konoha right now..._

Thankfully though, Ino knew a surefire way to warm herself up. She grit her teeth to prepare for the cold of the floor once again and quickly tip-toed her way to the bathroom, deciding to start the morning with a nice hot shower. This of course, meant inspecting the bathroom as well, which Ino hadn't gotten the chance to do the night before. Ino had spent enough missions in bad accommodations to worry about what was on the other side of the door, but felt overcome with a wave of relief upon entering. While the room was small, it seemed to contain all of the necessities, which Ino was more than happy about. Though that happiness definitely didn't compare to that of the happiness she felt once she stepped from the cold bathroom floor tiles into the stream of hot water coming from the shower head. In that moment Ino was more than thankful for the heat, polar opposite of how she'd been for the past three days of travelling.

And so, after her first morning experience in the desert, Ino decided that Suna's weather was bipolar.

* * *

Weirdly enough, Ino found herself growing nervous on her walk to Suna's Hospital. While she worked in the hospital back in Konoha for practically all of her waking hours, something about going to another hospital seemed oddly foreign to her. Suna just seemed to hold an energy of that, putting Ino out of her comfort zone.

On her way through the streets, Ino found herself having to push past other people, the streets of Suna seeming oddly crowded for so early in the morning. But she figured that it probably _was_ better to be outside in the cold than in the scalding heat. Her walk to the hospital was pleasant enough, and once again she found herself admiring the architecture of Suna's buildings. Many store fronts lined the sides of the streets, and Ino even passed through a street market and spotted some exotic foods she'd never seen before. For a city built literally on and around the harsh sand, Suna was actually beginning to seem very nice. This, of course, only prompted Ino to be stopped dead in her tracks when she caught sight of the Hospital.

As far as first impressions go, the building was more than off-putting. Not only did it seem oddly neglected compared to the other buildings Ino had seen in Suna, but also cold, which Ino knew was something a place of care should definitely not feel like. Even the landscape only contained a few neglected plants and a few dead cacti. Part of her felt unwanted, but she forced herself to press on and entered the building with a smile on her face, hoping for the best.

The waiting room she entered was shaped as a dome, the walls lined with wood and floor tiled white. Around her a few patient beds were scattered around haphazardly, but all in all Ino was surprised to see how clean everything looked so far, considering all the sand that must find its way in. While the inside of the hospital seemed a bit better when it came to hospitality, it still seemed like Ino didn't quite belong. For a place to start Ino decided to talk to the lady at the desk, who seemed more than happy to see her. She raised a friendly hand in a wave and stood from her seat behind the desk to greet her.

"Good morning!" They lady greeted, a wide smile spreading across her face. She seemed oddly chipper to Ino considering the situation the hospital was in, but Ino wasn't about to judge. "You must be the Medical-nin from Konoha, right? You can call me Nori." _Nori_ announced, holding a welcoming hand out for a handshake, which Ino returned gladly, happy that there was something in this hospital that didn't seem too toxic.

"Hi Nori! I'm Ino, it's nice to meet you!" Ino smiled, putting her hands back at her sides. She took this quick pause to try to get a peek into the doors leading further into the hospital, but before she could Nori called for her attention once more.

"Here's a folder I've made up for you, it's got a map of the hospital and a few patient files in it. I recommend checking out the classroom first," Nori pointed to a room on the map, which sure enough it was labelled _'classroom'_ , "From what I know, they have classes around this time and, I don't know, maybe you could go from there?" Ino smiled in response and thanked Nori for the folder and suggestion before heading on her way to said classroom. It wasn't very far on the map, but Ino found herself getting lost in the halls of the hospital quite easily. Oddly, in her whole trip to the classroom, Ino passed no other medical-nin. She noted that in back of her brain to bring up later.

Once she reached the classroom, Ino let out a sigh of relief and knocked on the door, happy she was temporarily out of the seemingly winding halls. The classroom door took a second to open, but when it did Ino was greeted by an older woman. Upon closer examination Ino noticed many wrinkles lining the ladies face, something Nori didn't sport despite looking to be around the same age.

"Yes?" The lady spoke dully, obviously not amused by Ino's presence. "Are you here for the class, because we were just about to start-," Ino's eyes widened, noticing the misunderstanding and interrupted the lady.

"No, no, no! I'm Ino, I'm here on a mission from the Kazekage." Ino corrected, chuckling to herself. The ladies eyes lit up with recognition immediately and she opened the door up fully to let Ino in, apologizing for forgetting about her arrival. Inside the classroom was an almost alarming amount of students. Especially since Naruto had told her that the hospital was understaffed. Which could only mean one thing. Ino pulled the medical-nin teacher aside for a second to confirm her suspicions. "I'm sorry, but how many actual medical-nin do you have working here?" The lady gave Ino a curious glance before responding.

"Well, we have eight medical-nin on shift for today, as far as I know. Why?" At the news, Ino was less than happy. They were understaffed, and severely so. Sure, Suna was smaller than Konoha, but only _eight_? No _wonder_ she didn't see anyone else on the way here _._ Nevertheless Ino tried to shake it off and deal with it later, knowing that only meant that she'd have her work cut out for her. With no further way to continue the conversation, Ino made her way to an open seat next to one of the students and decided to just sit and help when needed. Which, sadly, was easier said than done.

The medical-nin teaching the students today was on the topic of healing basic cuts, scrapes, and bruises. To any medical-nin, that seems like the easiest topic, but apparently not for this one. While she had the general concept down, there _was_ one thing she was neglecting. Thinking it may have just slipped her mind, Ino raised her hand in order to ask about it.

"Yes? Med-nin?" The lady addressed Ino with an annoyed tone that seemed to come from no where. She suddenly seemed to be unhappy that Ino was there in the first place.

"What about scarring? The way you're describing doesn't address that. I know that-," Impatiently, the med-nin interrupted Ino mid-sentence.

"Scarring? Who cares about scarring? I'm just talking about small wounds here they aren't going to scar, _Med-nin_." The lady addressed Ino in rude tone. Which Ino was not about to take kindly. Sure, she might be having a bad day or something but in the end Ino was there to help, not to get sassed by someone.

"If you treat any small cut haphazardly like you're describing, you're going to get scar tissue, _lady_. And my name's _Ino_." The med-nin sent a sharp glare in Ino's direction, obviously angry with her. But in the end she did deserve to be called out, she _was_ doing it wrong and teaching the wrong way to her students.

"Fine, _Ino_ , how would _you_ do it then?" The lady asked impatiently, which only made Ino more frustrated with her. Even so, Ino wasn't going to let it bother her. She was here for a mission after all, it was her job to deal with these kinds of people.

"Well, first off, like I said you can't just treat a wound so haphazardly, it doesn't matter if it's a basic cut or a gash. If you don't focus on what you're doing there's a chance that you won't heal the whole wound, of course leading to scar tissue. You need to spend equal amounts of time and chakra on every part of the wound." Ino stated matter of factly, but even though she was sure she was right, the med-nin wasn't having it.

"Listen, first off, _I_ didn't invite you here, and I'm pretty sure that the Kazekage didn't aim to invite some little _med-nin_ with a snotty attitude in to try to take over _my_ class." The lady spoke through gritted teeth, but Ino could tell that it came from place of embarrassment. And for the record, Ino was _not_ the one with the snotty attitude.

"Look, lady, I understand that you're probably embarrassed and all, but doesn't give you the right to-," Again, the lady cut Ino off.

"Y'know, since we're probably going to have to spend more time together, maybe I will start calling you Ino. It suits you _a lot_ better." The med-nin hid her insult, but, sadly for her, Ino had enough experience with Sakura to know the insult behind her words. In seconds, the blonde was up from her chair and stomping towards the lady in front of the classroom in pure rage mode.

"Excuse me! How _dare_ you! I'm here to _help_ you you stupid old prune!" Ino barked at the lady in front of her, but got no response. "Y'know what! Screw this!" Ino yelled, storming from the room and leaving the student's in the class baffled. Ino could deal with a lot of things, but she was _not_ about to to try to help some rude old know-it-all. Be it her mission or not. One of the main reasons she left for the mission in the first place was to get a break from a certain rosette who had a tendency of sporting an attitude, so she wasn't going to let that old lady fill the spot.

It would be a lie to say that Ino wasn't quickly becoming more stressed about the success of her mission as the minutes ticked on. After all, she wasn't going to be able to even complete it if the stupid Suna med-nin's wouldn't listen to her in the first place. What made it even worse was the fact that if she did fail the mission it wouldn't just be herself she was letting down. If she failed at training the stubborn medical-nin then she'd also be letting Suna and her friend down, and Ino Yamanaka wasn't one to choose to let others down.

All in all, it was easy to say that she had caught herself in quite an _annoying_ predicament.


End file.
